


At the Dog Park

by imafriendlydalek



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Dogs, First Meetings, Identity Porn, M/M, Pre-Slash, bitty and jack both have dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 13:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12960375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imafriendlydalek/pseuds/imafriendlydalek
Summary: Eric meets a really hot guy at the dog park (Spoilers: It's Jack, Bitty just doesn't know that yet).





	At the Dog Park

**Author's Note:**

> This is *very* loosely based on that one time I met one of the Buffalo Sabres at the dog park.
> 
> My first ZimBits fic, yay!

“Oh, no, Franny, don’t!”

It was pointless, Eric conceded. His dog had already taken off at a full sprint towards the gate, yapping loudly, trying to look as fierce as she could. Not that it was much use. She was too small, and too cute, to be taken seriously.

Luckily the massive Malamute and its equally gigantic owner, who were just coming in the gate, didn’t seem too fazed as Franny raced towards them. She jumped up, trying to reach the Malamute’s ear, but the Malamute just shook its head and trotted off to find a tree to mark.

“I’m so sorry!” Eric called, jogging over after his dog. “She thinks she’s tough! She really just wants to play.”

He pulled to a stop when he reached where the Malamute’s owner was. The man was crouched down to allow Franny to sniff his hand, and she was now happily accepting scratches between her ears, a doggy smile on her face.

The man chuckled and looked up at Eric, and Eric thought his heart might stop as his eyes met the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

“Hi,” Eric breathed. Surely that little bit of running couldn’t have left him this out of breath.

“Hi,” the man replied, giving Franny one last pet before standing and - oh. Not only were his eyes beautiful, he was also tall, tall, tall and _very_ fit. And smiling at Eric. There was something familiar about him, but Eric couldn’t quite place it. “She’s cute. What kind is she?”

It took a second for Eric’s brain to catch up. “Oh, Franny? She’s … no idea. SPCA Special? Probably a bit of sheltie, definitely some terrier, maybe some pom? Anyone’s guess, really.” Eric shrugged and glanced around to see where the man’s dog had wandered off to. He couldn’t have gone far - the dog park wasn’t all that big. Anything to keep Eric from having to look into those distracting eyes. “And yours?”

“He’s a Malamute,” the man replied before whistling shrilly. “Lou, _viens ici_.”

The Malamute turned its head and came running over, and Eric felt his stomach flip-flop at the sound of the man speaking French.

“Are you ... French?” he asked hesitantly.

“ _Ouais_. Well, Québécois.”

“Oh. Wow. What brings you to Providence? If you don’t mind me asking?” His mama would have given him a stern talking-to for prying like that, but Eric couldn’t help himself - he desperately wanted to keep talking to this man, and to get to know him better.

There was a brief pause before the man answered. “Work. And yourself? You don’t exactly sound like you’re a native Rhode Islander either, eh?”

Eric couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Bless your heart, definitely not. I’m a Georgia boy, born and raised. Came up north for college, though, and just kinda never left.”

“‘Up north.’ Cute,” the man replied, an ever-so-slight teasing smile on his face.

“Good lord, are you chirping me?” 

“Might be.” The man bent down to pick up a tennis ball for Lou, but Eric could have sworn he caught him winking in Eric’s direction.

 _Don’t fall for him, don’t fall for him,_ Eric told himself. _He’s probably very, very straight and very, very married. No one that good-looking stays single in this town._

He watched as the man stretched back to throw the tennis ball, watched the way his t-shirt rode up to show just a sliver of skin (just enough to make Eric’s throat go dry), watched the way his arms flexed as he flung the ball clear across the park, both dogs on hot pursuit.

“I bet a dog like that needs a lot of exercise.” Two in the afternoon was Eric and Franny’s dog park time, when he would steal away from the bakery for an hour and come down to the park by the water. They were here almost every day, but he’d never seen this man before.

“Yeah, a fair bit. I usually take him with me for a run in the mornings, but I’m not allowed to run right now.” He tapped on his right thigh before adding “Doctor’s orders” with a soft frown.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That must be tough. For Lou. And for you.”

“Yeah, well, risk of the job.”

“Well, if you want, I could take him,” Eric heard himself saying, and he was surprised at his own brazenness. “I don’t go running every day, but I try to go three or four times a week.” He smoothed over his stomach as he added, “Gotta counteract the risks of _my_ job.”

The man chuckled. “Oh yeah, what do you do?”

Eric pointed to the small _Bits of Heaven_ logo on his polo shirt. “I’m a baker.”

The man’s face lit up. “No kidding? Really? I love that place. Me and the guys go there all the time, the one down on Harbor Street. Well, as often as we can.”

“Oh, wow, that’s great. I’m usually at the one over here on Tupper Avenue, that was the first one I opened. That’s where my office is.”

“Wait, you _own_ it?”

Eric nodded. “Yeah. Bits was a nickname I got in college. That’s where the name comes from.” 

“Bits?” the man said, as if he was testing out the name. “I like it. Suits you.”

“Are you chirping me again?”

The man shrugged unapologetically.

“And here I was about to invite you to come back to the shop with me for a cup of coffee and maybe some pie …”

“No, no, no - I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend-”

Eric was laughing by then, and the man must have realized Eric hadn’t actually been upset. 

“I like pie.”

Eric smiled as his heart skipped a beat. “Good. Get Lou, it’s just a two-minute walk from here. We have an outdoor patio where dogs are allowed. I’m Eric, by the way.”

“I’m Jack.”

***

Eric had just ducked into the kitchen to grab two of the mini pies he’d made earlier that morning to go with their coffees when Allison came bursting in.

“ERIC! Jack Zimmermann is sitting on our patio!” Poor girl looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Eric placed a hand on her shoulder in the hopes of calming her.

“Easy, hun. Breathe. Nice and steady. Who?”

“Jack Zimmermann,” she repeated in a tone of voice that implied he was supposed to know who that was. At the lack of reaction from Eric, she added, “Forward for the Falconers? Top scorer in the NHL last year? Probably would have won the Cup for them this year if he hadn’t pulled a hamstring in the playoffs? _Bad Bob Zimmermann’s son?!_ For Christ’s sake, Bittle, you played hockey in college, and you’ve lived in Providence for, like, ten years now, and you’ve never heard of _Jack Zimmermann_?”

Eric shook his head and glanced towards the patio. Surely she didn’t mean ... There were five other people sitting outside, two of them men, but what were the odds of more than one being named Jack? He replayed their conversation earlier in his head: moved here for work, not allowed to run right now. It lined up.

“Which one is he?” he eked out, as if he couldn’t already guess at the answer.

“Uh, the one with the world’s cutest dog?” Allison replied, before quickly adding, “After Franny, of course.”

“Of course. Well, it just so happens I met him at the dog park.” Eric busied himself plating the mini pies and moved to go outside. “Back to work, you slacker.”

“You got it, boss,” Allison said with a mock salute as she pushed off the counter and headed back to the front of the shop. She stuck her head through the doorway one last time to add, “Hey Bits? He was also on the cover of OUT Magazine a few months ago. Really, you ought to follow these things more closely.”

Eric felt a grin spread across his face. “Maybe I should …”

He was still grinning when he got to the table where Jack and Lou were waiting. “Here you go,” he said, setting the pies and drinks on the table. “One maple apple pie and a boring black coffee for you, Jack, and one raspberry peach pie and caramel latte for me. By the way, tell me, what is it that you do for work?”

Jack chuckled, his smile warm. “Someone spill the beans to you on who I am?”

“Yeah, maybe. Serves me right for living under a rock. Or, well, in a bakery.”

“Well, Mr. Bits, I must admit, I’m kinda glad you do. And I’m also glad you at least leave it often enough to go to the dog park,” Jack said, lifting his mini pie as if to make a toast. “Here’s to the dog park.”

Eric lifted his own mini pie, mirroring the gesture. “To the dog park.”


End file.
